*Please note this book is dark romance and deals with serious themes including rape, violence and murder.* This story unfolds over seven volumes approx. 25 – 30,000 words each.

My father was most certainly NOT an innocent man. As the leader of the Gypsy Brothers MC, he was guilty of many things. But he died for a crime that he didn’t commit, framed by an enemy within who then stole his club and everything he had ever worked to protect.

Including my innocence.

When Dornan Ross framed my father, he set into motion a series of events that could never be undone. My father was murdered by Dornan Ross and his sons when I was fifteen years old.

Before my father died, Dornan and his sons stole my innocence, branded my skin and in doing so, ensured that their lives would be prematurely cut short. That they would suffer.

I’ve just turned twenty-one, and I’m out for blood. I’m out for revenge.

But I didn’t expect to fall for Jase, the youngest brother in the club.

I didn’t expect that he would turn my world upside down, yank my heart out of my chest and ride away into the sunset with it.

It’s been six years since Juliette “died” that fateful day in the hospital. Elliot, a police officer at the time, smuggled her out of the hospital and several states away to keep her alive and protected. He quit the force almost immediately after getting her to safety.

Juliette has changed everything about her: her name, hair, chest size, teeth, nose. The only thing she didn’t change was the branding Dornan and his sons left on her the night they stole her innocence. She gets a tattoo to cover them up instead, from Elliot who became an excellent tattoo artist after leaving the police force. It wasn’t until he saw the marks that he knew who he was dealing with.

Samantha/Juliette shows up to the burlesque club that her father used to be the manager over before he was murdered by Dornan and his son DAYS after her rape/death. Dornan takes an instant liking to her and claims her as his. Over the course of a short while, Juliette is able to reconnect with Jase, the youngest Ross son. She has to choose between him or exacting her revenge on his family.

I honestly liked the IDEA of the story. I thought the story needed to have been longer to portray it in a light that would have made it so much better. The characters seemed a little one note but there is so much potential for each of them. I wouldn’t mind reading the rest of the series, but for right now, I’m only wish listing the rest of the books. There are seven more books in the series: counting down from seven (this one) to zero (the epilogue).

This book is in the categories of romance, suspense and contemporary. I’ll give it the contemporary and possible suspense. But I don’t think it belongs in romance at all at this point. I almost considered a DNF but I kept going.

On a cloudy day, the sun bursts through the sky, blinding me, and it was at that moment of squinting as I held my hand above my eyes that I first laid eyes on her.

A young girl with hair as black as soot, dancing in the park and waving her hands, with a smile so pretty it could stop hearts. Her face one I would remember for the rest of my life.

She was frail and thin, just like I was. We were kids, playing in the park, just like everyone else. But this was no normal encounter. Not to me.

On my little bike, I drove in circles, gawking at her, always trying to catch her attention, but she never looked my way.

The only thing she could focus on was showing her parents a new trick she’d learned. Jumping rope twice in a row. Playing hopscotch while covering her eyes. A new dance.

Every week, she came here. Sometimes, it was on different days.

And because she was here, so was I.

You see, a boy always knows exactly when he’s met the girl he’s meant to be with.

She was that girl.

She didn’t know I wanted to get to know her.

That I even existed.

But even at such a young age, I knew … deep down in my heart … that she would be mine. One day.

If I could muster the courage to approach her.

Only if.

Because I wasn’t a courageous little boy. On the contrary, I was a bumbling, shy, and quiet boy, who always sat in the back of the class, daydreaming of another life. Busy with the stories I was penning down on the pages of my notebook.

I wasn’t the kid to walk up to a girl and ask her to play with me.

No, I was the kid who silently watched her from afar … admiring her beauty. Her will. Her devotion toward her parents and her ability to keep the hope alive that they one day might care.

Because her parents never seemed happy.

They never laughed or smiled when she did her special thing.

They never talked to her, other than to tell her no.

They never even acknowledged her, except for when it was time to go.

And honestly, it surprised me they even came to the park that often. I guess keeping up appearances was that important to them.

I should’ve known that before it was too late.

Before I realized that one day was going to be the last day she’d come to the park; the day she was sent to boarding school. Before I knew I may never see her again.

But I did know one thing …

I would never give up finding her.

Even if it took me a lifetime.

Author Bio:

Clarissa Wild is a New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author, best known for the dark Romance novel Mr. X. Her novels include the Fierce Series, the Delirious Series, the Stalker Duology, Twenty-One (21), Ultimate Sin, Viktor, Bad Teacher, RUIN, and Wicked Bride Games. She is also a writer of various erotic romances. She is an avid reader and writer of sexy stories about hot men and feisty women. Her other loves include her furry cat friend and learning about different cultures. In her free time she enjoys watching all sorts of movies, reading tons of books and cooking her favorite meals.

Description: As a final job for his mob boss uncle, Lar Delaney agrees to eliminate one last target. Through the crosshairs of his sniper rifle, he realizes that his target is a former girlfriend—a woman who supposedly died five years previously.
Moira Collins is an intelligence agent whose cover has been shot to smithereens. When she finds herself on the wrong side of an assassin’s rifle, she’s appalled to recognize the only mark she ever let herself fall in love with.

Moira works for MI6. She had been undercover in Boston to try and find out if there were secrets being sold between the American and Irish communities concerning governments. Without knowing that her life would be in danger later, she was pulled a day before the pub she had been working at was shot up, resulting in several deaths.

On a leave of absence from MI6, Moira heads to Ireland where she decides to infiltrate Frank Delaney’s club to find information on the bombing that killed her mother, father and brothers. She knows her sister was alive and working in Ireland as a private investigator. She enlists the help of her sister who is very apprehensive about her showing up and not wanting to believe that they’re actually related at first.

Things go from bad to worse before the end of the book. I did NOT see the end of the book coming at all. There were several things I didn’t suspect in here.

Zara Keane is a new to me author. I happened to grab this book on Amazon when it was free on promo. I started reading it yesterday and finished it today. It pulls you in from the first page and keeps you captivated until the end. There’s murder, mystery, intrigue, love, hate, passion, and mistrust. The characters are believable with their feelings and reactions and thoughts. She creates a whole world that you can picture laid out in front of you and you can see the story happening as you’re reading it. I was honestly surprised at some of the information in the book as well as the ending. Never saw it coming. Definitely my first 5* read of 2017!

I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book in the series to see what happens next in the Dublin Mafia world and to see what happens to the Triskelion Team.

High Stakes is the first book in the Vittorio Crime Family series by author Vanessa Waltz. I have a few of her books on Kindle but this is the first one I am reading from her. I must say, I wish I had cracked open her books sooner!

High stakes follows Adriana. She is a sophomore in college at an Ivy League school. Her roommate, Maria, is wealthy and doesn’t have to worry about anything while Adriana does. She takes care of her mother’s bills and it leaves her with very little to spend each month on herself. Jackie, Maria’s cousin, gets them into an illegal poker game. One of the dealers doesn’t show up so they are down a dealer. Adriana volunteers after Jackie speaks up. She ends up being on a trial run for this game.

She’s doing well until Vincent Cesare shows up. She knows that one of the players is counting cards so she alerts the man standing behind her with an innocent request for a glass of water which is their tipoff. He ends up being hauled out of there. Vincent returns and the night concludes. He gives her a great cut of what she made in tips to keep, taking a percentage for himself. He takes everyone out to eat that night. He ends up requesting Adriana to become one of his new dealers and she agrees.

She’s doing great at her job when she catches another counter. At one game, the capo of Cesare’s outfit is there. He doesn’t trust Adriana as she isn’t part of their outfit, nor is she related to a made man. Later, she learns that he wanted Vincent to kill her but he refused. Things get bad between the Rizzo family and Vittorio family with stakes rising at each encounter.

I love Vanessa’s style of writing. The words flowed across the page in a non-stop manner and the story was great. I like Adriana as the main character. I’m not too hip on Vincent and his dark to loving mood swings. The world that is created in this book is a violent filled one but proves that love can prevail in it. Relationships are tested to the max and a few are lost. One of them I was glad was broken. I can’t wait to get the next book in the Vittorio Crime Family series!

Sin is the first book in the No Way Out series by author Shari Ryan. This book was done in a different fashion than I’ve seen books done before. Each chapter was posted on the authors blog one chapter each week. She asked for opinions on what people wanted to happen and then would consider things for the next chapter. She did it this way until it was finished. Book two, Abandoned, is set to release on 12/9/15. It is available for pre-order right now. (I do not believe the author did it the same was as the first book. I believe she wrote the second book on her own.)

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Reece has been locked in a shed for three years. There’s only a small hole for her to reach through to get her food bags. There’s a small hole where light gets in. She likes the light because she’s afraid of the dark. She’s been in the dark for too long and longs for the light. One day, she thinks she’s finally lost it when a boy appears in her shed. He wishes her a happy birthday and then gives her something and leaves. Several days later, he appears when his father is in the shed with her. He ends up getting into a fight with his father. Since there’s about to be a storm with tornadoes, Sin takes Reece and they go into a basement and ride the storm and night out.

The next day, Reece is treated to a bunch of new sights and sounds. And she’s scared to death by a few of them. Which she should be since she’s been locked up for three years with not knowing what was going on in the world outside her shed.

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I liked reading this book. But then again, I like Shari’s books. They can evoke emotions from the reader, whether intentional or unintentional is another story. 😀 Her books will have you laughing, crying and sometimes wondering what is going on in her head to make her think up the things she does. 😀 (Please don’t shoot me. I love your works.)

This is the third book in the Infected series by author Joseph Zuko. Jim is trying to fight his way to his mother-in-law’s house. He now knows that’s where his wife and girls were heading with her brother, Troy. They make a run to get supplies to stabilize Devon, nearly getting themselves killed by a mad man in the process.

There are so many close calls in this book that I thought we were going to lose many main characters. Unfortunately, we lost several characters and it saddens me on who they were. I’m liking some characters more and more as the series goes, Leon being one of them. Although, I’m not sure I like where Leon’s thoughts are heading in the book and I can see some SERIOUS trouble brewing in the group if he remains with them.

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This was a good read. The author knows how to write to keep you captivated and glued to the pages. I read this in one day because I was entranced with the words on the pages. The images I was able to build because of the author’s descriptions were like watching a movie.

Charles Z David is a new to me author that I enjoyed very much. I will definitely be looking forward to more books of his. The writing style is nice and being able to do the visualizations his words give you is amazing. Definitely an author to be on the lookout for!

This book does follow ISIS so if you have an issue with that, I suggest not reading it. ISIS wants Uranium-233 which is a new type of Uranium that can be created and isn’t monitored by anyone so that weapons of mass destruction can be made. They know they can’t send in an Arab looking citizen because they’ll be scrutinized the entire time they are there and won’t be able to pull off the heist. So they send in their Aryan looking friend, Ossi. Ossi is a very didicated Islamist and also happens to be very dedicated to ISIS. He went though many extremist groups before being inducted into ISIS and finding his place there.

Ossi has a natural “don’t mess with me” look that makes anyone and everyone avoid him unless necessary. Although, his appearance is the opposite of how he really is. He doesn’t mind that people leave him alone and actually prefers it. Materials start going missing from labs and hospitals across the area. Can the local teams find out who is taking it, what their plans are and stop them before they are able to pull them off? To find out the answers to these questions, you’ll definitely have to read this book for yourself. I HIGHLY recommend this thriller to readers.

We start out the book witnessing a “job interview” of sorts. Only the firm has decided that they want Ronnie as an employee and are willing to do almost anything to obtain him. He decides to accept their employment and the stipulations to it. Flash forward six months into the future. Ronnie works in an office with Roy and it’s pretty safe to say neither likes the other. Ronnie invites Roy out to lunch on a daily basis but Roy is always declining because of one reason or another.

Ronnie is Israeli. Every day he calls his best friend and they talk about what’s going on. Gadi, along with Ronnie’s family, wants him to come back to Israel. He’s miserable in the US and in this job. He’s bored with it. Until one afternoon when he goes to lunch. He chooses his normal table and after he is served his food, he hears someone talking about betting on horses. Only he recognizes the voice. Stepping out of the phone booth, next to Ronnie’s table, is Henry, one of the partners at the fund he is working for.

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This is a book that will keep you interested until the end. There’s mystery, suspense, love. This book was read in a couple of sittings. I just couldn’t stop unless it was to take care of my daughter or to run errands. Ronnie is a character that I liked from the beginning. He holds his ground when it comes to selling the fund. Everyone is pushing him for some reason but he won’t sell it until he finds out those reasons. Which leads him on a quest to find out. But could also mean the end of his existence. Definitely a book I would read again multiple times.

This is a great recreation of the classic tale by Washington Irving. The cover is what caught my attention but the very first line of the story is what got me. “The Horseman….he is real. He came for me.” That line is what kept me coming back for more.

Katrina is the only child to a wealthy farmer. When we first encounter the horseman it is three years previous to where the story actually starts. He was outside her room and beckoning her to come outside. Almost succumbing to the summons, she snaps out of the trance and he vanishes. Three years later and it seems he has returned. The body of the school teacher has been found headless and in a dead patch of grass. Just like the previous victims.

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This book by Dax Varley will leave you wanting more. Luckily this is part of a series. I liked this first book so much I went and added the second book to my wishlist. And I hope to be able to get it and read it soon! Definitely worth the 99 cents on Kindle for an amazing read that will hold you captive until it’s finished.

This book was ah-freaking-mazing. The way it ends, it leaves it open to make it into a series and I really wish the author would! There are so many unanswered questions and not enough answers! This book contains action, adventure, horror, zombies, vampires and werewolves. A great read for sure.

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Description on back of book:

The Scariest Place on Earth

All guests can interact with real vampires in Vampire Village, be chased by actual werewolves on the River Run, and walk among the dead in Zombieville.

Wyatt, Melvin and Howard, three unpopular high school friends are stuck in Copper Valley, California. Nerdy Howard is oblivious to social cues, Melvin is an oddball outcast, and Wyatt is in love with the unattainable Jade- the most popular girl in school.

Due to a fortuitous circumstance, they are invited tot he star-studded opening of Monsterland. In a theme park full of real vampires, werewolves and zombies, what could possibly go wrong?

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The answer to the question posed in the description is A LOT. And I mean a lot. I started reading this book last night and made it to chapter 19 before crashing and finished the rest today. I just can’t even process what I’ve just read! lol. I wish it was longer. I felt it was too short and could have been longer.

I do like this author. I hadn’t read his works before but I was given this book and since it’s one of my favorite genres, I decided to give it a chance. I am glad I did. Vampires, zombies and werewolves in one book! My dream come true! The characters are likable (most of them anyways). The author uses such descriptive details that you can actually image everything happening as you’re reading.